Verizon May Push for LTE-Only Phones (no CDMA) in 2014 to Lower Subsidies

[dgstorm]

Some of Verizon's potential future plans for 2014 have been shared by CFO Fran Shammo. He indicated that Verizon might start releasing smartphones in 2014 which will not have CDMA, but instead will be LTE-Only and employ Voice Over LTE technology. Here's a quote from him,

"We will ultimately get to voice over LTE, probably end of this year, beginning of next year. Then if you look out into late 2014 then you start to think of things like, okay, so now I can start to take the CDMA chip out of the phone and just have a pure LTE handset. That also starts to reduce subsidies. So over the next two to three years I think we will start to see subsidies come down."

While the idea of moving toward newer and better technologies is normally an exciting thing, it's worth mentioning that Verizon's motivation for this has nothing to do with the consumer and is really about reducing subsidies on devices for the company and making them more profit. Additionally, it would help the company move to a point where they can get rid of subsidies altogether. Of course, the end of subsidies would mean much higher up front fees for our devices. This could be potentially offset if the carrier would also lower their monthly prices. Obviously, that is a big "IF" and is nothing but a subject for pure speculation at this point.

Do you think Verizon would pass on any of those subsidy savings to their customers?

Source: TheVerge

 

[kodiak799]

I'm not sure this is surprising. VZW has been picking off low-hanging fruit on the margins of subsidy. They already jacked-up the price of LTE phones from the more common $199 to $249 and then $299 (and more?). They eliminated subsidies for unlimited customers (which basically saves them - costs you - an extra $15 a month).

My question is if they will have the WHOLE country covered with LTE by then. If I have VoLTE, will I have no voice service when out of the VZW network or simply out of their LTE areas? Plus, I'm sure VoLTE will require a plan change. That's eventually how they will get rid of the unlimited plans.

 

[hotice]

One problem

Battery life, or more specifically talk time, will plummet. I'm not sure the last numbers I saw were on a good/current/Snapdragon S4 LTE chipset or not but it was something like 75% less talk time. That's huge.

I think it would be smarter for them to use GSM/GPRS for voice which should work over the same or similar hardware but with apparently less impact on battery life. Does anyone have real numbers or know more about the different technologies and what real options there are?

 

[Raverrevolution]

I hate Verizon. News like this never ever favors the consumers in the end. They just want more and more money.

 

[dfcfu342]

Subsidies may come down but I can almost guarantee prices won't. Just more profit padding and people will eat it up as its the latest and greatest.

Unless there are huge strides in LTE technology very soon then, as mentioned before, talk time will plummet. Doesn't really make much sense at all for the consumer to get less talk time for the same price.

 

[lloydstrans]

I'm quite sure VoLTE will eat up some of your data too, even if it doesn't.

If it's not HD it might as well be a newspaper.

 

[liftedplane]

if, and ONLY if their LTE network completely covers and rivals their cdma network would this work... I travel and there are times that I still don't get 4g. once that is a non issue then go for it vzw... give us LTE only phones and turn off cdma just like when you turned off analog. as long as the coverage is as good, or better.

 

[kodiak799]

If we go "backwards" to 4-5 hrs of talk time on a charge that may not be such a fail if call quality is superior.

Pricing would be interesting - because VZW won't just say bye-bye to $40+ voice subs (in some ways their new plans already addressed that, sort of). The data usage wouldn't be huge, maybe 20megs per hour....but obviously if you talk your ear off it will become significant.

Don't know. I'd expect them to keep voice somehow separate. Google is going to become a major player, as well, I think to take advantage of your wifi and LTE (I already used GV with my home VoIP, which would be great if Ooma didn't charge me $10 for premium service to be compatible with GV).

 

[kodiak799]

if, and ONLY if their LTE network completely covers and rivals their cdma network would this work... I travel and there are times that I still don't get 4g.

That's my main concern. I feel like they are nearing the end of their LTE roll-out and most of the footprint won't be covered (i.e. they won't invest to upgrade 3G towers in low population areas or outside of major highways).

But that just means people like you will need a different phone. For most people that don't travel outside their city this might be a good deal. I'm betting on a lot of ticked off customers, though, when they travel and find out they have no service, data AND voice, because there's no 4G service.

 

[liftedplane]

That's my main concern. I feel like they are nearing the end of their LTE roll-out and most of the footprint won't be covered (i.e. they won't invest to upgrade 3G towers in low population areas or outside of major highways).

But that just means people like you will need a different phone. For most people that don't travel outside their city this might be a good deal. I'm betting on a lot of ticked off customers, though, when they travel and find out they have no service, data AND voice, because there's no 4G service.

Yup and needing another phone is ridiculous I prefer the top of the line.

Hopefully sprint rolls lte out quickly they are beginning to look better and better every single day.

---
I hate jelly beans, Google's jellybean is alright though.

Sent from my sickeningly sweet Galaxy Note II

 

[EyeOWA]

So does this mean that it will end the lower phones, like the Cosmo, etc? So if someone wants to get their 12 year old kids a phone, does this mean they need to switch to a smart phone? There is no way that this seems logical. I can see that their smartphone sales are increasing, but to get rid of them is ludicrous.

 

[zomnomnombie]

I do not like this. I like the quality and reliability of CDMA in conjuction with the functionality of LTE.

 

[xeene]

Curious what will happen to dumb phones.

 

[gadgetrants]

I'm not sure I get the "pull out CDMA chip" ---> "no subsidy for YOU!" logic. As I understand it, a "subsidy" (in this case) is an upfront discount the wireless provider is willing to suffer, as an incentive to get you on contract, which they then make back (and extra) with 2 years of usage plus accessories plus overage charges plus penalties, etc. I would have thought the two are unrelated. Can someone explain (I do get it that LTE phones are more expensive, but then again, removing a component should lower cost)?

-Matt

 

[RETG]

That's my main concern. I feel like they are nearing the end of their LTE roll-out and most of the footprint won't be covered (i.e. they won't invest to upgrade 3G towers in low population areas or outside of major highways).

But that just means people like you will need a different phone. For most people that don't travel outside their city this might be a good deal. I'm betting on a lot of ticked off customers, though, when they travel and find out they have no service, data AND voice, because there's no 4G service.

Maybe, maybe not. I live in a small town in southern UT and we have LTE in some areas of the town. Can't really figure it out, assume they have added it to one tower and are in the process of adding to another tower to give us complete coverage. However, on I-70, they installed a new tower a year or two ago, with NO LTE.

If they don't offer the same coverage with LTE as they do with 3G, then Verizon could end up losing customer base if one of the other big two (AT&T/Spring) supply better coverage.